Flotilla capture and Gaza
Senator Noonan condemns the capture of the global flotilla, refers to the detention of Irish citizens, and accuses Israel of continuing violence in Gaza and the West Bank.
I join others in extending my sympathy to the family of Yves Sakila and to the Congolese community in Ireland.
The capture of the global flotilla by the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, represents a violation of international treaties. I join others in this House in calling on Government to more. The sister of Uachtarán na hÉireann is one of those who has been caught up in this incident. All the while, the Israeli Administration continues to murder children and continues to allow settler violence to perpetrate throughout the West Bank. The Palestinian ambassador has raised concerns to us that Ireland's Presidency of the EU will be used purely to focus on humanitarian aid. However, the Presidency must be used to put further political pressure at a European level on the Israeli Administration. The EU is paralysed in the face of genocide.
I also raise the issue of the septic tank inspection regime which was highlighted by the EPA this morning. The number of inspections is far too low. Some counties have had no inspections at all. The failure rate is alarming, posing a risk to human health and to the aquatic environment. The grant scheme is not fit for purpose. It is currently at €12,000 - I know it has been increased. However, given that the costs have to be paid upfront by the household, they are prohibitive for many families. A scheme involving a bridging loan would be useful.
Some 500,000 households have their own domestic waste systems and 137,000 of these have private wells. I call on the Government to introduce free well-water testing as a matter of urgency. This is a public health issue. A similar scheme has been operating in Ontario in Canada and has reduced the incidence of contamination, particularly E. coli, significantly. It would cost about €5.26 million for 162,000 samples per year. This would decline over time. It is critical to have such a scheme. That report is really damning and the situation has not improved over the past ten years. Priority should be given to introducing something like this as a public health measure.